defended public workers at a meeting of the nation's governors. >> i don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated, vilified, or their rights are infringed upon. we need to attract the best and the brightest to public service. these times demand it. >> sreenivasan: governor walker has said he will start laying off state workers in wisconsin within days if his bill is not passed. in economic news, consumer incomes rose in january by the most in nearly two years, thanks to a cut in social security taxes. but the commerce department said consumer spending managed only a small gain. wall street rallied today amid signs that oil prices have stabilized. the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 96 points to close at 12,226. the nasdaq rose one point to close at 2782. former opposition parties in ireland have begun talks on forming a new coalition government. they swept to huge wins in friday's national election, fueled by voter anger over

ireland's financial collapse. the leader of the main cter- right party voiced optimism about reviving the economy, as votes were counted over the weekend. >> we stand on the brink of fundamental change in how we regard ourselves, in how we regard our economy, and in how we regard our society-- change that will require a gigantic leap, a leap of faith in a time when the idea of hope, even the idea of future itself, are being tested. the new government the new government is expected to demand better terms on its bailout by the european union and the international monetary fund. the last surviving american veteran of world war i has died at the age of 110. frank buckles passed away sunday at his home in charlestown, west virginia. he enlisted in the great war when he just 16 after lying about his age. later, buckles survived more than three years in japanese p.o.w. camps during the second

world war. he was honored with a white house visit in 2008 with then- president bush. in a statement today, president obama said buckles' life "reminds us of the true meaning of patriotism." those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: the threat of a government shutdown appears to have eased for now as a republican-backed proposal picked up some democratic support. newshour congressional correspondent kwame holman has our update. >> reporter: with current funding for federal operations set to run out at midnight friday, congressional leaders seemed to be coalescing around a short term measure that would avert a shutdown. the proposal released friday by house republicans would keep the government running another two weeks but would cut $4 billion in spending. including $2.7 billion from nearly 50 earmarks spending directed by lawmakers to home state projects. $650 million in federal highway funds and $368 million

spread across four department of education programs. congressional democrats initially balked at the new republican proposal, but some warmed to it once it became clear reductions would come from cuts already included in president obama's budget for the coming year. >> averting a federal shutdown. would the chair.... >> reporter: the chairman of the senate budget committee democrat kent conrad of north dakota spoke yesterday on cnn. >> will you accept this $4 billion worth of cuts over two weeks to try to get a longer- term plan? is that acceptable to you? >> it is acceptable to me to have $4 billion and savings and a two-week package, sure. the make-up that, you know, is up for discussion and nor iations. that notion is... negotiation is ongoing. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell today welcomed signs of increased democratic support for the republicans' two-week spending plan. >> this bill represents an effort to change the culture

here in washington. it says let's start to change the mentality around here. let's find $4 billion that all of us can agree to cut and cut it. and continue from that good start. democratic leaders in congress resisted even this up until a few days ago. now they've started to suggest they might be willing to agree to it. this is progress. >> reporter: at the white house today press secretary jay carney said the president hasn't committed to signing the short-term bill just yet. >> the bill is passed. >> reporter: house republicans already approved their version of how the government should be funded through september, the end of the fiscal year. but as speaker john boehner noted at a gathering of religious broadcasters in tennessee sunday, democrats were unwilling to go along with that proposal. >> the house has passed legislation reflecting the will of the people that we keep the government running through october while cutting spending. the leader of the united states senate has refused to allow a vote on this

legislation. so the house will pass a shorter-term bill that will also keep the government running while including reasonable spending cuts at the same time. >> reporter: the house is scheduled to begin debating and voting on the two-week spending bill tomorrow. >> woodruff: next, health care reform, and the latest move by president obama to deal with opposition to the law. the president announced today he supports a change allowing states to opt out of major requirements of the affordable care act at an earlier date. under the health care reform law, states can ask in 2017 to opt out of requirements to increase coverage, such as the individual mandate. that's three years after the insurance mandate takes effect. but president obama told governors today he supports a bipartisan bill in the senate to allow waivers even earlier. >> it would allow states to apply for such a waiver by 2014 instead of 2017. i think that's a reasonable

proposal. i support it. it will give you flexibility more quickly while still guaranteeing the american people reform. if your state can create a plan that covers as many people as affordably and comprehensively as the affordable care act does without increasing the deficit, you can implement that plan. we'll work with you to do it. >> woodruff: but those waivers would not necessarily be granted. states would have to prove they could find ways of insuring equal numbers of new americans for similar costs. the president's move comes amid growing complaints from governors about medicaid costs. and some republican governors are calling for more autonomy over eligibility and cuts. kathleen sebelius is the secretary of health and human services. i spoke with her earlier this afternoon. madam secretary. >> hi, judy, how are you. >> woodruff: i'm well. how are you.

>> pretty good. >> woodruff: thank you for doing this for us. >> sure. >> woodruff: caused quite a stir over there at the white house. >> i met with two or three >> what we have been hearing is that states have great ideas. i met with two or three governors the last couple of hours who want to do programs that bring all the private payers and medicaid and others to the table, work with doctors and providers. states want to look at regional exchanges. they're looking at all kinds of innovative ways to cover everybody, but they they can actually lower costs and have some even more effective delivery system changes. what the president said today is this innovation waiver has always been part of the affordable care act. since it was passed.

it was not scheduled to start until 2017. but the more we got input from states around the country who were eager to roll up their shreves and get going, why not put this on the table from the outset. why have a state in one direction around a kind of formulated exchange only three years later to move in a different direction? so if states have creative ideas, innovative ideas that, as you say, cover the same amount of people, he doesn't want to back away from the 32 million additional americans who are promised health insurance. if they have more creative strategies about ways to make sure that costs aren't shifted on to consumers or on to the federal government, it isn't going to be a deficit buster, bring them to table. let's figure out if we can make them work. states want flexibility so let's figure out what the ceos of the country want to put in place. >> woodruff: what would this mean, for example, for the individual mandate?

that was a federal requirement. would that be still be in effect? would people still have to pay the penalty if they didn't participate? >> if a state has a strategy different from the individual mandate that they think will cover the same amount of people... so, for instance, they could come up with a strategy that says we're just going to automatically enroll uninsured people in various plans or we're going to, you know, work it out a different way. or we're going to have, you know, a different kind of... something that encourages people to come into the market but if they don't come in, have a large barrier for several years, something that folks would indeed see as a dramatic encouragement. we looked at all kinds of ways to balance getting rid of pre-existing conditions with getting everybody in the marketplace because those are the two frameworks that have to be tied together. if there are other ways of doing that, we're eager to see

what states have to suggest, what insurers have to suggest because, as you know, judy, the individual responsibility piece really came from the private insurance companies saying we can only get rid of the pre-existing condition limitation if then we have everybody in the pool. if people cannot buy coverage on their way to the hospital or after they've had an accident. >> woodruff: let me read you what senator orrin hatch who has long been immersed in health care legislation as i'm sure you know for many years. he immediately reacted and called this a gimmick. he said it does nothing to undo what he calls the law's budget busting onerous requirements iluding the mandates washington-dictated coverage. >> well, i would love to have a longer conversation with senator hatch about it. again, i want to stress that this is not a new concept. it is not backing away from the affordable care act. this innovation strategy was part of the framework in the first place.

what the president has suggested is let's move up the implementation date. let's say this is also... this is one of the options available to states in 2014. senator hatch clearly has some objection to covering all americans and doing at least what the congressional budget office says will be a fairly dramatic deficit reduction of a trillion dollars over the next two decades while you're bringing everybody into the health insurance pool. i think it's a concept that is much needed in america. i think it's something that we have to move forward on. but the president has said from the outset if they're good ideas, republican or democratic, bring them to the table. this is one he thinks let's accelerate and put it in place from the outset. >> woodruff: secretary sebelius, does this come because the law is under siege? it is being... there are 28 states, i believe, that have sued to exempt themselves from the law

polls show that a significant number of americans don't like the law. is this an attempt by the president to respond to all that? >> i think, judy, what it is is that the president has listened to governors. this has never been the federal takeover of health care as has been reported inaccurately over and over again. it always has been a state- driven program. what we had governors tell us in the beginning is we have ideas which we would like to put in place even more quickly. why should we wait until 017. can we come to the table and tell you what we think would work in arkansas or in north carolina, what we think is a better strategy? the president listened to that. as you know, this particular piece of legislation has been proposed by a republican senator, senator scott brown and a democratic senator ron widen along with a third senator larry landrieu.

so it's a bipartisan approach saying let's move up the timetable. let's let innovation be part of this strategy from the outset. >> woodruff: one other thing the governors as you know very well say their most immediate concern with regard to health care costs has to do with medicaid the government program covering the poorest people. more than half the states are ready to take hundreds of thousands of people off the medicaid roles if the government will simply grant them the flexibility to do that. is that something the administration is prepared to do? >> well, judy, i think that nothing could be worse for the prosperity of this country than to have millions more americans without health coverage. we've seen the toll that that takes on families and on personal budgets, on states. that is the worst of all outcomes. i think what we're trying to do is really work flexibley with states. we have sent teams out around the country to look at in

arizona, in florida, in other areas what are the ways that you can save additional dollars without slashing the benefits of programs? and what we really know is that one population which is a very high cost population is the so-called dual-eligibles. people who are eligible for medicaid because of their income and also eligible for medicare. the president also asked governors to come together in a bipartisan fashion to work with me on how we can better address the care, the benefits, but also the cost of that population. i think that will yield some big results, as about 50%. costs of anybody's medicaid program and yet it's a fraction of the beneficiary. so it's a relatively small number of people overall. but with very high costs. we think there are way to deliver care much more effectively and also dramatically lower costs. >> woodruff: we want to leave

it there for now. secretary sebelius, these are all issues that we're going to continue to follow. thanks very much. >> sure. nice to visit with you. >> woodruff: now, a republican view of all this. it comes from senator orrin hatch of utah. he sits on the finance committee as well as the health, education, labor and pension committee. senator, thank you for being with us. >> nice to be with you, judy. >> woodruff: senator, you may have heard secretary sebelius just now say that this is simply an attempt to let states come up with their own structure, their own way of providing coverage as long as they cover the same number of people and they don't increase the cost. >> as long as they continue to do all the obama care requires them to do. i mean, she just doesn't know what she's talking about because this waiver does not do one thing for anybody. the fact of the matter is if you read the law you realize that it's not going to help the states at all. the states now are $175 billion in the hole. that was before this dog-gone

bill. now they're $120 billion going to be added on to them. you'll notice she said that as long as they meet all the qualifications of the law, which they can't do. they've moved 16 million people under the state medicaid rules. and at the time the government did put up a little bit of money but now that money is gone. there's no way the government can help them. the states are in an uproar because they really can't do this. i have to tell you, they have mandated the states to have to live with provisions that really don't make sense. this waiver moving it from 2017 to 2014 doesn't do a thing. the waivers aren't going to helm. >> woodruff: again, senator, what i heard and i made some notes on what she said. she said if the state has a strategy different, for example, from the individual mandate wherein they could automatically enroll people, she said in various plans or work it out some other way and she said this is an attempt to

let the state write their own plan. >> isn't that wonderful? if the state has another way of doing exactly what they want done, then the state can do that. well, my gosh, i tnk everybody knows that the problem is that the states can't afford to do what they are demanding here. they're saying if they want to move away from the individual mandate. how do they do that? the individual mandate which i think is unconstitutional, 28 states now think it's unconstitutional, two major federal judges think it's unconstitutional. for the first time in history they're going to apply the commerce clause to an inactivity? it's always been applied to activities in commerce. and if they apply it to an inactivi, in other words, the desire of state golfs and people in the states not to purchase this insurance or not to purchase this health care, it will be the first time in history they've done that. if they can do that, they can do anything to you. >> woodruff: at one point, senator, we heard the secretary say she said that you and she have a view... you

have a different fundamental view on who ought to be covered. you don't agree that more americans should be covered. is that accurate? >> that's what i call bull corn. i'd love to cover everybody. i'd love to make sure nobody suffers from a lack of health care. i'd love to be able toelp everybody. but there are some economic realities that we're going to have to realize. and the states are here up in arms. these aren't just republican governors up in arms. these are democratic governors that know that they can't meet these mandates, that this idiotic bill is requiring them to meet. look, i hate to be mean to anybody. i hate to talk this way but it's true. it is one of the worst pieces of legislation in the history of this country. it's not going to work. they know it's not going to work so they phony it up with these, well, we'll move these waivers that aren't going to work. we'll move those from 2017 to 2014 but you have to meet all the requirements of the obama care law. now what do you think that means?

it means the waivers aren't worth the paper they're written on. >> woodruff: senator, you don't see any mid ground at all on this health care reform? >> yeah, i see a middle ground. they ought to trash the bill and get rid of it and sit down with republicans and democrats who really care for this country, who really want to put together health care so it will work for everybody. and let's see if we can do a bipartisan bill instead of this totally partisan bill that will work in this country. and you know that's what was going to happen when they refused to work with republicans. all 60 democrats in the senate had to pass it. not one republican. all of the democrats in the house had to pass it. not one republican. there's good reasons why the republicans didn't support this bill. now they find themselves in trouble so what do they try and do? phony it up by saying we're going to move this waiver situation from 2017 to 2014. but you have to meet all the requirements anyway in the bill. i mean, my gosh, anybody with brains will know that ain't going to work. >> woodruff: i did see,

senator, there was... there have been comments from administration officials who were briefing reporters after the president spoke who said, you know, that this allows states the flexibility to move in a different direction. for example, if it's a state that wants to move more toward a single-payor system that's one thing. or if it wants to move... they even used the example of your state of utah and said if they want to move in the direction of what utah does, we want to give them the flexibility to do that. >> we republicans would have made sure that there were 50 states laboratories to begin with. so that you can pick and choose out of the various states what really works. utah happens to have a fairly decent health care system. they are heralded by the rest of the states. by the rest of the country. but we're having our troubles out there as well. i have to tell you the way they're going, doctors won't be taking medicaid patients. we already have 40% of the doctors saying that they may retire rather than put up with this type of stuff. and then talk to the

governors. talk to the democrat governors. ask them how they like these waivers. ask them how they like obama care. you're going to find that they're beside themselves. >> woodruff: as a matter of fact we did look for some quotes and comments today from governors. some of the democratic governors said they are interested in this. they it opens the door. i'm going to quote, you know, your former republican colleague in the senate sam brownback. now the governor of kansas. he yes he does still object to the law overall but he sees what the president said today as a positive thing. he said this does offer some flex inlt. >> when the president talks, that's great. but the problem is you have to meet the requisites of this law. the states can't afford to do it. we're talking about a maintenance of effort problem here that the governors both democrat and republicans are up in arms over. look, i'd love to see a system that would work. i think we could have had one that would work. this one is not working. don't think that those waivers mean anything. they really don't.

read the associated press article today. they basically said these waivers aren't going to work. frankly they're not. the reason they're not going to work is because they've piled all this stuff on top of the states run by nothing else but the all mighty federal government. i know what'sing about to happen if president obama is re-elected within a couple of years he's going to throw this his hands in the air and say this isn't working. we must go to a single payor system. in other words, a washington determination completely done by washington and in other words socialized medicine. >> woodruff: we did just hear secretary sebelius say this was not and is never intended to be a government, federal government takeover. >> oh, come on. you can't look at it without knowing that the federal government is the totally dominant in this bill. that's why people are up in arms. >> woodruff: very quickly on medicaid. serving the most vulnerable americans. the idea that states could throw some of those people off

coverage altogether. the administration trying to stop that. what's your response to that? >> what do the states do? if they have $175 billion in the hole right now and then they're going to have to come up with another $120 billion. this is the worst situation since the depression. nobody wants to hurt anybody. people got health care before. they had to go to emergency rooms but they got it. i'm not saying that that's what we should return to but we could have come up with a bill that would much more economic sense, would work better, would have both republicans and democrats together. that was an arrogance of power that they had that they just put this through this way. now look i don't like finding fault with my democrat friends. i don't like finding fault with the president. i don't even like finding fault with secretary sebelius but to be honest with you what she said is, if you read through the language and you read what she said you're still going to have to meet all the onerous provisions of this bill. you can't do it. that's the problem. >> woodruff: coming through

loud and clear, senator orrin hatch, thank you very much. >> brown: and finally tonight, a very unusual window on events in iran. in tehran today, the state prosecutor announced that authorities have cut all outside contact with the country's two senior opposition leaders. houssein mousavi, the former presidential candidate, and mahdi karroubi had been under house arrest after urging supporters to attend rallies several weeks ago. their whereabouts now is unknown. all of these developments are being closely watched by two young men here in washington, who've become stars in iran. >> brown: welcome to the world of a weekly mix of western attitude and persian culture and humor. often zany and satirical,

sometimes straightforward and serious. here the news about iran is most definitely not what its government puts out. an iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad can be, well, the funniest guy on the planet. >> what is it to you? >> as soon as this guy opens his mouth we have the material to work with because he doesn't make sense whatsoever. >> brown: so each week 35-year-old this 35-year-old who came to the u.s. a decade ago and another man, 37, who arrived when he was in middle school tried to make their own kind of sense broadcasting to iran in farci as part of the u.s.-government funded persian news network. >> frankly we did something new i think. 99.9.9% of the news that comes out, you know, there's nothing

funny. it's always something horrible. and reporting the news has been repetitive. so we turn it into how we would talk about it as if we're talking to you right now or sitting at a bar. >> brown: indeed. a reference to the iranian government's repeated attempts to jam foreign sat fight programming and websites often takes the "are you kidding me" approach. as when supreme leader ayatollah khamenei says that the uprising was a reprieve of the revolution. >> today in egypt the echo of your voice is heard. >> brown: and the response? >> who said that? who told you? where have you heard it. >> brown: the point, he says, is that leaders can and should be questioned. >> they want people to believe that this is not their voice. this is the voice of god. you have to believe it not

because i say it but because this is bigger than life and bigger than... what we're trying to do is humanize these people saying, look, watch, listen. these people are... they're humans just like us. they can make mistakes. you are entitled to question them. they're not, you know, they're not prophets. >> brown: now in his second season, it features several segments some out of the jon stewart play book while fake reporting in the field. >> brown: and there are interviews, sometimes straight, sometimes relaxed. recentvents in egypt gave the pair a chance to point out a few differences between the countries. with a big wink of the eye. >> people of iran, do you know what is happening in egypt? there's an uprising there, a revolution. they're going to open bars. women don't have to wear veils

anymore. high speed internet is becoming available. >> brown: in other words not so bad. the surprise result this creation of two self-described regular dudes has become one of the most popular programs in iran. for its watched on satellite tv, illegal but widely used, and on internet sites such as facebook which is also illegal but where the program had close to 30 million views in the past month. the show is a hit with the iranian-american community as well. a math teacher who doesn't want to share his last name for fear of reprisal to his mother in iran and this man an i.t.specialist get something every friday evening in mclean virginia to watch. >> i also like their kind of anti-censorship spirit that they bring. it's humorous what is taking place in iran and the ideology in iran is very somber so comedy, satire and all that

really puts a wonderful spin to what's going on in iran. >> when i see it posted on facebook, my friends and relatives, distant relatives in iran, that, you know, you get this sense that, oh, all of us like this show. so, yes, it somehow brings you together. >> brown: from iran, his cousin responded to our question about why she values it. >> when he talks you feel you have just seen him in the street. the same jokes and the same preoccupations as those of today's youth in iran. what matters to us is important to him too. >> brown: more than half of iran's population is below the age of 30. playing to them using their phrases and slang is clearly part of the success. still there are some topics that remain off limits. most of all religion. and there are plenty of times when it plays it straight and

serious as in a recent interview with the blogger who escaped iran. >> were you tortured? >> yes, i was. >> how? >> physically. >> brown: also not funny the latest crackdown by the government on demonstrators who took to tehran's streets after egyps successful uprising. husseiny dedicated that week's program to young young men killed during the protests. one of them was a fan and had shared the latest show on his facebook wall just two days before his death. all of this, of course, raises the question: how much is it out to change the world? here is an answer. >> we're nobodys. we're a bunch of people in front of tvs that people hear all about. we just do it in a different way under the umbrella of humor but it's for the audience to decide for themselves whether they like us or they don't like us, a lot of people have come together from many sides of the opposition groups, including even the government,

and they watch the show. now if they choose to change their minds and see things a little bit differently that's up to them. >> democracy. >> brown: in fact the government has taken notice even producing its own state-run anti-program. it uses similar techniques, sometimes even clips from the show itself while reminding viewers that it is spored by the u.s. government and branding its two creators as spies. the two creators, who are both u.s. citizens and federal employees, seem to enjoy the back-handed homage to their work. >> it's turned into a war of comedy. we do a show that is, you know, around humor. they try to counter us with another funny show. >> brown: do you think they're watch something. >> i'm sure they're watching. they're saying damn, they're good. >> this is the daily show.... >> brown: apparently jon stewart thinks they're damn good too.

he saluted the pair in a recent daily show appearance. >> i can see the passion in what you do. it's very engaging. when you watch the show, you feel like the heart and the anger. then they constantly cut away. to like for the comedy break. >> i'm the funny dude. >> brown: would you like to do this program in iran? >> we'd love to. with the audience and all that, the live audience. the whole she-bang. that's a very great moment for me. to do this. because doing this show from iran meaning that country already becomes democratic. and they can tolerate a show like this. their media. because.... >> brown: if you went now, impossible now. >> we can go. we just wouldn't come back. >> brown: and so for now it will continue to push the limits of tehran's tolerance from thousands of miles away.

>> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. security forces in libya broke up new protests in tripoli and threatened two other cities now in rebel hands. moammar qaddafi insisted the libyan people love him. he told abc news, "they will die to protect me-- all my people." governments in bahrain, oman, and yemen faced new protests and demands for reform. and president obama told u.s. governors that public employees should not be "vilified" in a bid to cut state spending. and to hari sreenivasan, for what's on the newshour online. hari. >> sreenivasan: watch more of jeff's interview with "parazit" hosts kambiz hosseini and saman arbabi on art beat. and on the libya story, our site for students and teachers, newshour extra, has a lesson plan on the role of technology in recent uprisings in africa and the middle east. plus on this week's political checklist, political editor

david chalian talks with judy about the ongoing debate in wisconsin over collective bargaining, and the details behind the government shutdown stopgap. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. >> woodruff: that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday we'll look at the congressional showdown over spending cuts. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oil companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people.

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>> hi, everyone. welcome to the "journal."

>> i have the business. welcome. >> warplanes at the battle for libya. the libyan leader and his family say more sanctions from the international community it, and in hollywood, four oscars including best picture go to "the king's speech." if the battle for libya continues. in the west of the country, there are reports that soldiers lower -- loyal to moammar gaddafi have been mounting repeated attacks against some cities. it recently fell to the rebels. much of eastern libya has been under opposition control since protests began, but on monday, warplanes flew over the region in a sign that the regime is not

backing down. >> rebels warning motorists on the road. gaddafi in his forces can still strike back. loyalist aircraft had just attacked a nearby army depot and ammunitions storage. >> they drop bombs. there, you can see the buildings smoke. >> gaddafi's forces are doing what they can to prevent the rebels advancing. amateur video on the internet shows what is reported to be a gun battle near a town about 200 kilometers east of tripoli, also home to a strategically important airbase. rebels reportedly seized a base and a munitions depot after fierce fighting. in a city 50 kilometers west of tripoli, rebels are defending the city.

>> all of this town is with us, and the people do not want gaddafi. >> witnesses say forces loyal to gaddafi, are preparing a result. increased patrols are preventing new anti-government demonstrations. in one suburb, several hundred protesters gathered. this graffiti reads "be patient, and gaddafi. we will dig your grave." guns were fired into the air to disperse the protesters, but then they drove off again. >> earlier, i spoke to her correspondents, who is in the city in eastern libya, benghazi. there is a huge amnt of

territory that he has lost. >> bill has powerful brigades under his control, especially in the area of tripoli -- he has powerful brigades. according to eyewitnesses, there were two air attacks nearby benghazi, near the army depots, so he is trying to take away from the rebels the possibility of using the weapons. he is trying to show he is still under control in benghazi. the question is if he will be able to regain control of the cities he has lost, two big cities under control of the rebels right now, and he is trying to re-conquer them, but so far, he has not been very

successful. >> with the interim government, are they making any progress, and would any such government be successful? >> they are not calling it an interim government. they will have a government wants gaddafi is gone. -- once gaddafi is gone. the process is going on. there is no opposition really. they have to start from scratch. that is what they are trying know from the east, to put some pressure on the regime, duffy -- gaddafi's regime. >> thank you. in the meantime, the international community has been adding pressure on the gaddafi regime. the u.n. security council voted unanimously in favor of sanctions. the eu has since filed suit.

u.s. secretary of state hillary cnton megyn stressed that washington is keeping all of its options open -- again stressed that washington is keeping all of its options open. >> the international community continues to diplomatic pressure on libyan leader moammar gaddafi. the turmoil involving libya is high on the human rights council's agenda. now, they had issued an urgent appeal. >> there is concern the widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes under international law. attacks must be independently investigated, and those responsible must be held to account. >> in any event to prevent mortality, russia and the eu are discussing further measures, such as a no-fly zone over

libya, and the german foreign minister has proposed a north- south pact to shore up democracy building efforts in north africa. >> we can help build democratic institutions. we can help promote an effective rule of law with truly independent judges. we can support the state in their fight against corruption. we can intensify trade and promote the people's pursuit of happiness. >> he has also demanded a 60-day freeze on all oil payments to the korea to prevent funds from reaching gaddafi -- a freeze on all oil payments to the area. >> the aim is to prevent a dictator, moammar gaddafi, and his family from getting more money and hiring more soldiers

to meet of violence and oppression on the people of libya. for this reason, we in europe and the german government have initiated a number of sanctions, including freezing assets. the sanctions also include travel restrictions. but i believe we also have to ensure that new revenues from oil imports and up in the coffers of a dictator who will then use the funds to hire more troops in order to wage war against his own people -- to ensure that new revenues from oil imports do not end up in his coffers. >> from the conference in geneva, i asked them if there were development with the proposal. >> this is pretty dubious here, because nobody of the other eu colleaguess expressed himself or herself tonight, especially with the freezing of the assets, but

it is clear that the energy commissar of the european union has already publicly expressed doubts, saying that the gaddafi regime is not controlling most of the oilfields and revenue now. the opposition is controlling it. such an action might harm the opposition. the other question is, why 60 days? is it assumed that the fighting will go on for another two months? >> let's move on to u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton statement. she said "all options are on the table." what does that mean? >> this is just camouflage from disagreement. she and her counterparts and other european foreign ministers, there will be no agreement in the u.n. security council on the no-fly zone or

for their military options. even the french are very hesitant. -- no-fly zone or further military options. this is disguising the existing disagreement. >> a thank you very much for the update from geneva. the ousted egyptian president hosni mubarak and his family have been barred from leaving egypt. the move was announced on egyptian state television. e torney general also put a freeze on bank accounts and other assets held by the mubarak family, uand there was also an international asset freeze by foreign powers last week. there were widespread protests demanding his ouster. the unrest in libya has certainly affected oil prices, and we can feel it at the pump. >> saudi arabia says it has stepped in to meet demand for

extra oil supplies caused by the chaos in libya. it has been confirmed that demand for additional oil is being met. that means that the world's largest oil producer is now pumping an additional 700,000 barrels per day, for a total of 9,700,000. oil prices easing to $112 per barrel. that is for the futures traded in london for crude. the economy is strongly affected by the civil unrest, especially with companies withdrawing their staff out of the country in droves. china just evacuated thousands of its citizens with the safety of ships and planes, and mike workers leaving is continuing. >> this brought workers back home to cartoon -- khartoon. many still have their co-workers

stranded in libya. >> we face difficult conditions. we were not able to leave our homes during the day, and at night, we heard shooting nearby. they also took our money and even our luggage. >> an estimated 1.7 million foreign workers were employed in libya when the unrest erupted, accounting for one- quarter of the country's population. most of them come from neighboring egypt. 60,000 bangladeshis were primarily working on infrastructure projects. others have 30,000 nationals employed in the country, with 25,000 workers from turkey. governments around the globe have been scrambling to evacuate their nationals. these workers working on a railway line say they were attacked by a gang of workers. now, a bus has taken them across the border to tunisia, where

they will board a flight. >> major german tour operators are already taking tours out of egypt and tunisia again. 14 f. craft will be flying to holiday destinations on the red sea, the okings are still lower -- 14 aircraft will be flying. they are giving holidaymakers reduced prices. they are told to stay away from the rest of tunisia, including the capital, tunis. looking at markets now, sliding oil prices helped give equities a boost. we have this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> the sentiment on the frankfurt floor is mainly driven by the old prices. at the beginning of this week, oil prices came back a little bit, going to $112, and this was a signal for investors to buy

shares again. the dax rose by 1.25 of 1%, and there has been reaction to last week, when the dax went down by 83%. one of the biggest gainers on the dax has been the share of one company, a pharmaceutical and chemical company, bayer. there have been losses, but the outlook is better than expected. >> let's take a look at some closing numbers. in frankfurt, germany's blue- chip dax closed higher at 7272. the dow jones industrials are currently going up at 12,213, and the euro is trading for $1.38. and strengthening a division at a company.

both sides have decided to keep the purchase price under wraps. revenue was around 220 million euros. this was due to lighting systems in germany and china, and it employed over 1000 people, working on infrastructure projects, including sports arenas. the scandal on the german defense minist is widening. >> it seems that the academics are now weighing in. over 20,000 academics have signed an open letter to chancellor angela merkel criticizing response to guttenberg. merkel had referred to it as "a minor matter." last week, the defense minister said the work contains a grave

errors, and he would stop using the title of doctor. there have been calls for him to step down. the royal drama "the king's speech" to a best picture, director, original screenplay, and a best actor for the colin firth portriyal of britain's study ranking george. -- stuttering king george. >> he was one of the favorites on sunday night. firth told the audience that he was overwhelmed by the award. >> the abdominal, which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. >> firth portrays king george vi, who with the help of a

speech therapist overcame a problem with stuttering. >> i am not here to discuss personal matters. >> why are you here? >> natalie portman! >> natalie portman's performance in the "black swan" got her the oscar. >> this is insane. i truly, sincerely think that the prize was to work with my fellow nominees. >> portman plays a star ballerina, whose rise to the top is tarnished by her gradual descent into psychosis. portman also won other awards for her role. >> with access to your programs,

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>> welcome back. 2010 was a harsh year that the people of chile. it is the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and devastating tsunami. the earthquake, which measured 8.8 on the richter scale, lasted about three minutes, and it was then followed by a tsunami. 534 people were killed, and 31 people are still listed as missing. south of the capital santiago, they have witnessed a very different levels of progress in the last months. residents in one area have been able to move their lives forward with the help of aide,

but in other areas, they are still struggling, with no help from the government. >> these men are working on a memorial for their friend, luis, who died here one year ago. >> he climbed up here and thought he was safe, but the waves still sucks him out. -- sucked him out. his wife survived. he did not. chileans have survived to things like this before, but not like this. a day of mourning. it will be a small ceremony. we will present his wife with momentos. not all of the damage of the disaster has been erased from the city streets. it was just too much. it will take a long ti